ARCH 0680 at the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown

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Check out this trailer for a new documentary called Lost Rivers, which explores interaction with urban rivers through time:

Once upon a time, in almost every city, many rivers flowed. Why did they disappear? How? And could we see them again? This documentary tries to find answers by meeting visionary urban thinkers, activists and artists from around the world.

“The impact of dams on cultural heritage is enormous. Dams help offset water shortages and provide electricity for a rising global population. However, sites can be destroyed during the building of the dam infrastructure, or inundated by the reservoirs – reducing their accessibility to future generations or becoming damaged by water action and increased visitor traffic. As the global economic crisis and top-level political decisions impact cultural heritage funding, resources must be directed to where they can be of best use. Nonetheless, there is little guidance for policy makers and developers involved in the design and construction of dam projects.

This interdisciplinary workshop brings together specialists and interested parties to encourage a practical discussion about minimizing damage to cultural heritage during and after the construction of dam projects. This workshop is intended to begin a multi-year project, and will set the foundation and framework for future international sessions. The ultimate aim is the production of a practical set of guidelines for cultural heritage management in dam construction aimed at developers, foreign contractors, and policy-makers.

We cannot save or even record everything before it is lost, but must consider how best to choose, and what advice can be given to those in a position to make such decisions.”

This research project is holding an “interdisciplinary workshop [that] will set the foundation and framework for future international sessions, bringing together specialists and interested parties to encourage a practical discussion about minimizing damage to cultural heritage during and after the construction of dam projects.” You can read more about the endeavor, and the workshop drawing on these issues, by clicking on the image above to go to the project website.

Thursday, April 19 at noon
Urban Environmental Lab Classroom, 135 Angell Street, Providence
Dr. Lilian Alessa heads the Resilience and Adaptive Management Group at UAA, and has served on the board of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States. Her expertise is in the conceptual development and application of complex systems thinking and in the development of research strategies.

Abstract: Water resources continue to challenge societies around the world. As part of the solution, water technologies ranging from reclamation, to storage to household level conservation hardware have been implemented. In this talk we will discuss the role of technology in achieving water sustainability and question the increasing effort to ‘engineer’ water efficiency. We will also present concrete examples and tools from the emerging field of computational social science which may better inform our goals of achieving resilience through a human hydrological perspective.

I was sitting in on an introductory sociology class last week and was exposed to this incredibly evocative image for the topics we have been, and will be, discussing over the course of the semester. The airoots/eirut blog from which it comes talks about the rhetoric of (academic, intellectuals’) response to urbanization and the dichotomization of high rise versus slum: and how even though the reality of things on the ground is much more complex, images like this are employed to heighten that seemingly simple dichotomy. It’s important to keep that in mind even when narrowing down our focus to topics like water availability and access: while this photo is illustrative of the various extremes that come up – just look how every balcony has its own pool, as well as the larger pool sit within the well-watered lawns of the high-rise complex! – it takes a more critical and open-minded framework for really evaluating the specifics of water rights, battles, and issues in their local, historical context. What jumps out at you in this photograph?

I found last week’s topic of water as a source of healing quite fascinating, especially since there have been several articles published in the modern day about the therapeutic qualities of water. After talking to my mom this weekend, I realized that the spring I mentioned going to whilst suffering a bout of pneumonia in class on Friday was in fact Lourdes! Although memories of this particular moment are not that clear, my mom mentioned that my health improved dramatically after immersing myself in the waters of the piscines at the Grotto. I still hold the belief, however, that a majority of my recovery was due to being in warm weather, fresh air, and taking medicine. I am also in doubt as to whether or not travelling Lourdes with the intention of recuperating from my sickness had any effect on my view of the site’s healing powers. Reflecting upon this experience has demonstrated the importance of the social aspect of pilgrimages is as we discussed in class. Through word of mouth and sharing of stories with friends, my grandmother heard about the supposed healing nature of the spring, and in turn recommended my mother to take me there.

To elaborate on this theme of miraculous cures, my friend’s father, Dr Fereydoon Batmanghelidj published a book entitled Water Cure: Your Body’s Many Cries for Water in which he describes his experience with water whilst treating Iranian prisoners. One particularly interesting anecdote involves the treatment of a prisoner diagnosed with a peptic ulcer. Batmanghelidj recounts how the prisoner’s crippling pain miraculously vanished after he instructed his patient to drink two glasses of water. Whilst Dr Batmanghelidj’s seemingly supernatural cures have been backed up by science, it still seems so amazing to me that a simple molecule made up hydrogen and oxygen atoms can provide the solution to illnesses that have baffled the engineers of antibiotics for years. Lastly I thought I should note that I am writing this blog post whilst taking sips from my bottle of water, hoping that it somehow cures my sore throat.

Spending her spring break in Ireland, Hadley has shared a post about a holy well she’s encountered!:

During my travels in Ireland, I was driving through County Clare and saw a sign for Saint Brigid’s Well. Remembering the name as one of the Holy Wells of Ireland, I pulled over to take a look. Later in town, when I was asking the locals about more information on the well, I found out that “Saint Brigid’s Well” is actually a misnomer. This is because there are, in fact, two wells, each just outside of Kildare in Co. Clare and about a mile apart. (So of course I had to jump back in the car and track down the second one). The reason they both are considered “St. Brigid’s Well” is because they both emanate from the same spring, considered to be holy and healing. The “healing” properties of this spring, however, are in much debate. This is because the well doesn’t incorporate just one, or even two, religions. Saint Brigid’s Well is the site of three different denominations: Christianity, Paganism, and Druidism.

This all began with St. Brigid herself. According to Celtic belief, Brigid was one of three daughters and part of the Tuatha De Danann, the race of gods and demigods of Irish mythology. She was known as the Goddess of the Sacred Flame of Kildare and associated with elevated thought, such as philosophy, wisdom, and most importantly, healing. However, due to inadequate written records, when the spring became first associated with her remains unclear. It is also unclear when Irish mythology in antiquity can be considered Paganism and when it can be considered Druidism since so little is known about the Druids. However, references to Brigid can be found associated with both.

Finally, enter Christianity. It is no secret that much of modern Christian practices originated from the attempted assimilations of non-monotheistic religions, such as Paganism, that worshiped primarily nature-based deities, and Druidism, that believed in the immortality of the soul, and Brigid is no exception. As Christianity was forced on the Celts, Brigid of the Tuatha De Danann became St. Brigid of Kildare, the story claiming she had been born in a Druid slave family, but could never eat what was brought to her because they were so impure. She supposedly performed many miracles, the majority of which involved healing, and was called the “Mary of the Gaels.”

This dual-religious worship is still seen at the well today. Christian worshipers asking for healing follow very specific instructions, including when and where to kneel, which prayers to say, how many times, etc. However, the only things generally left are rosaries (seen in the picture which her statue). The Pagan worshipers, on the other hand, to this day still leave many votives and offerings, most notably ribbons. According to Pagan belief, healing occurs upon proper offering, followed by drinking of the water. I won’t include both the Pagan and Christian rituals specifically since it’s rather long, but here’s the link to its Wikipedia; its history of the well is lacking but at the bottom is a good explanation of the ritual (please note that it is not perfect in that they’ve combined both the Christian and Pagan rituals).

I was looking online at the news, the BBC as usual, and I found this interesting story that reminded me much of the conflict we studied a few weeks back.
A Chinese mining company is planning to operate a large, open-cast copper mine in Ecuador and has received government support for this project. In strong opposition, Conaie, the largest organization of indigenous Ecuadorians, recently began a two-week-long march across the country in protest. The native peoples claim that the mine will result in contaminated groundwater, environmental destruction, and the forced removal of people from their land.
The government has accused the protestors of inciting unwarranted hatred of the government in an attempt to destabilize the country and seize power. Thousands of protesters have also shown up to support the plan, as they believe the country needs to develop alternative sources of employment and revenue to supplement the dominant oil export industry.
This is a hotly contested issue, and there seem to be valid arguments on both sides, but it all depends on what considerations you weigh more heavily. Personally, I do not believe in sacrificing the environment and people’s sources of health and life (fresh water) for an industry that will likely export most of its products and pay low wages to workers.
I think the concern is a legitimate one, and I was wondering what you all thought about it.
See you tomorrow,